Livingston earned a precious lifeline in their bid to beat the drop thanks to a 2-0 victory at St Mirren, their first win in the William Hill Premiership since August 9.
And manager, Marvin Bartley (pictured), conceded: “Hopefully, this is the beginning of a miracle.”
The welcome win snapped a winless run which has extended to 31 games, the longest in Scottish top-flight history in a single season.
An own goal from Alex Gogic after 67 minutes – he was caught out by a Robbie Muirhead shot – and a second from Livingston’s Scott Pittman with nine minutes remaining of regulation play, ramming the ball home after a pass from Lewis Smith, earned them three valuable points.
The West Lothian club now move onto 19 points from 34 games and have edged closer to second-bottom Kilmarnock who are on 28 points after losing 1-0 at Aberdeen.
The defeat leaves The Buddies only two points above the relegation play-off position with only four games remaining.
Martin Bartley’s men can also thank goalkeeper Jerome Prior who made a number of telling saves, particularly in the first session.
Underlying Prior’s performance were the match statistics. Saints had 17 shots and Livingston managed four.
No wonder then that St Mirren’s interim manager, Craig McLeish, said: “That was a sore one.”
He added: “It is fine margins in all of these games and you can’t take anything for granted.”
Bartley said: “It is one game at a time and we need to produce our best at both ends of the pitch.”
The ex-Hibs midfielder said that his players have given everything since he took over and he added: “Hopefully, this win can give them a lift and a belief.”
The men from the Home of the Set Fare are next in action on Friday when Aberdeen visit (19.45), another vital game.
